Decalcomania transfer



Oct. l, 1940.

B. AsNEs 2,216,289

DECALCOMANIA TRANSFER Filed Deo. l0, 1938 DECALCOMANIA Faereov:

,Bere 'au Tc Clays, Qym, Mag/ww will) @atente "i i 1940 Benjamin lianes,lFraimingham, ll/fass., assignor to Dennison Manufacturing tlornpany,iFramingham, llt/fase., a corporation of Massachusetts ApplicationDecember llfl, lg3d, Serial No. Ztlffl In the manufacture ofdecalcomania transfer paper it is customary first to coat the paper Witha sizing to prevent the subsequent coating of adhesive from strikinginto the paper, then to apply the adhesive coating and nally to applythe transfer design by repeated printings. The printings may be applieddirectly to the adhesive coating or to an intermediate lacquer coatingapplied over the adhesive. Without the lacquer coating a great manyprintings are required to give the transfer sufficient body to holdtogether while being transferred from the backing to its permanentmount, whereas the lacquer coating supplies the necessary strengthirrespective of the number of printings.

To transfer the designs the paperis soaked in water until theadhesivecoating is softened sumciently to permit the design to beslipped or peeled off the backing, after which the design is permanentlymounted on the article to be decorated by means of the adhesive whichstill adheres thereto. If the adhesive has a low degree of solubilitytoo much time is required to loosen the design from the backing (abouttwenty seconds is commonly regarded as the limit) and if the adhesivehas a high degree of solubility there is a tendency for substantiallyall the adhesive to wash off the transfer, leaving too little to mountthe transfer satisfactorily. For various reasons the wash-off tendencyis particularly pronounced in the case of transfers of the aforesaidlacquer type.

For the foregoing reasons it has been necessary, particularly in makingtransfers of the type including a lacquer coating, to adjust thecharacteristics of the adhesive, particularly its solubility, verycarefully, or to select the adhesive from a limited number having thedesired characteristics, in order to obtain quick separation and, at thesame time, satisfactory mounting. It has also been necessary to exerciseconsiderable care in the transfer process to guard against washing offtoo much adhesive from the design.

Objects of the present invention are to provide decalcomania transfersin which the designs can be quickly loosened from their backings withoutdanger of leaving too little adhesive on the designs, to enlarge therange of adhesives suitable for the purpose, to avoid the necessity ofexactitude in the degree of solubility of the adhesive, to avoid theexercise of undue care in gauging the time the transfer is left in thewater for softening the adhesive, to afford good adhesion between thetransfer and a great variety of sur- (i011. til-33) faces, and generallyto improve the art of decalcomania transfers.

According to this invention the design is joined to the backing by twostrata of adhesive of different solubility respectively, the stratumnearer the backing having a high degree of solubility to afford quickseparation and the stratum nearer the design having a sufficiently lowdegree of solubility to remain substantially intact with the designafter the first stratum has been dissolved, thereby affording ampleadhesive for mounting the design. The latter stratum should also have awide range of adhesive, that is, it should adhere well to a wide varietyof surfaces; and, in the case of transfers having the aforesaid lacquercoating, it should of course adhere well to lacquer. To meet theserequirements the preferred adhesives are dextrin having a high degree ofsolubility and a good water-moistenable gumming such as a high-gradegelatin or a water-soluble resin. The two strata are preferably appliedas successive layers, the first coating being dried before the secondcoating is applied. Before the rst layer is applied the backing ispreferably coated with a starch sizing; and after the second layer hasdried a lacquer coating is preferably applied.

For the purpose of illustration a typical ernbodiment of the inventionis shown in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a face view of acircular decalcornania transfer;

Fig. 2 is a section on line f--t of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view illustrating the separation of the designfrom the backing; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing the design mounted on its permanentsupport.

The particular embodiment of the invention chosen for the purpose ofillustration comprises a backing B which is ordinarily formed of paper,a first coating S of starch sizing or other suitable sizing material, asecond coating A' of dextrin or other quickly soluble adhesive, a thirdcoating A of gelatin or other moderately soluble adhesive, a fourthcoating L of lacquer or the like, and a fifth coating' in the form ofthe design printed on the lacquer coating. To remove the design from thebacking the transfer is immersed in water as illustrated in Fig. 3 untilthe coating A softens sufficiently to permit the design to be slippedoff the backing as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3. Owing to thedifference of solubility of the two layers A and A the layer A remainssubstantially intact after the layer A has largely dissolved away, andas shown in Fig. 4 the design is permanently mounted by means of theadhe.- sive. layer A.

The layer A preferably comprises a high-grade gelatin having a viscosityof 150 to 300 millipoises at 15 F. in a -12V2% concentration-with water.'I'he gelatin is preferably plasticized with d-gluconic acid or othersuitable plasticizer. The preferred formula for the layer A is asfollows, all parts being by weight:

Parts Gelatine 25 Water 100 D-gluconic acid .(50% aqueous solution) 15Glycerin 1 Gelatin is preferred because it affords a clear transparentand highly exible lm. The d-gluconic acid adds to the ilexibility of thefilm and also improves the adhesion to the lacquer llm.

L The amount of d-gluconlc acid may be varied i separation of the designand a gelatin coating lliviiig a relatively low degree of solubility andbeingzlocated between the dextrin stratum and the design so as to remainsubstantially intact with the design when the dextrin stratum 1sdissolved, thereby assuring both quick separation and also ampleadhesive for mounting the design.

2. Decalcomania material of the type comprising a backing, a layer ofstarch sizing on the backing, a separable design and intermediateadhesive temporarily holding the design on said layer, characterized inthat the adhesive comprises two strata, a dextrin coating having a highdegree of solubility to afford quick separation of the design and agelatin coating having a relatively low degree of solubility and beinglocated between the dextrin stratum and the design so as to remainsubstantially intact with the design when the dextrin stratum isdissolved, thereby assuring both quick separation and also ampleadhesive for mounting the design.

3. Decalcomania material of the type comprising a backing, a separabledesign and intermediate adhesive temporarily holding the design on thebacking, characterized in that the adhesive comprises two strata, adextrin coating having a high degree of solubility to aiord quickseparation of the design and a gelatin coating having a relatively lowdegree of solubility and being located between the dextrin stratum andthe design so as to remain substantially intact with the design when thedextrin stratum is dissolved, said gelatin coating being plasticizedwith d-gluconic acid.

4. Decalcomania material of the type comprising a backing, a separabledesign and intermediate adhesive temporarily holding the design on thebacking, the intermediate adhesive comprising a dextrin stratum having ahigh degree of solubility to afford quick separation of the design and.between said stratum and design, a gelatin stratum which has a lowerdegree of solubility and which is plasticized with d-gluconic acid.

BENJAMIN ASNES.

